No Need to Panic for Parisyan

Many people have very little knowledge of what a panic attack is and how it can drastically affect ones daily life. Karo Parisyan has been secretly dealing with the illness and has finally spoken out publicly about how it is affecting his MMA career.

“I had some panic attacks going on and I didn’t even know what it was until I went to the doctor,” explained Parisyan in a recent interview with MMAWeekly. “I’m trying to cope with that stuff… at the same time, just training and trying to make my way up to the top again.”

Recognizing that you have it, and controlling it are two completely different things. Especially when you often have no idea what might set it off. However, Parisyan feels that he has it under control.

“Hopefully,” he said about keeping the attacks under wraps. “That’s the one thing that you have to figure out… what triggers that (stuff) and once you figure it out, you try to stay away from stuff like that. Life is a whole experience.”

This weekend will be his first fight since his controversial TKO loss to Thiago Alves in April. Although very little is known about his opponent, Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Parisyan seems to have a really good feel for him.

“He’s a real good judo guy,” stated Parisyan. “He has good ground and pound. He has fairly decent submissions. His strength is my strength so I think when we clash it’ll be fireworks. This is the first time I fought a real athlete. No disrespect to the guys I’ve fought before. This is the first time I’m fighting an Olympic caliber judo guy and I have a lot of respect for him. I’m going to go in that cage and give it my all.”

As tough as Yoshida may be, Parisyan feels that he will be entering the cage a much better all-around MMA fighter.

“I think I’m a better MMA fighter than he is, however you never know what will happen in a fight,” Parisyan said. “I’m just hoping and praying that I’ll come in good shape for this fight and give the crowd what they want to see.”